Temptations
by STR0B3L1T3
Summary: Eun Sang didn't know what she had thought it would ever be like, but she had never thought this would happen. Locked in a lonely marriage to Kim Tan, Eun Sang grows familiar with the only other person in the house - her brother-in-law.
1. Part I

Temptations

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Everything had started changing right after Chairman Kim had passed away. Even though Won had formally been in charge for years, the Chairman had always been in the shadows, making sure everything went exactly as he wanted it. Eun Sang bit her lip as she fiddled with the long sleeves on her long black dress. They were having dinner in honor of the Chairman tonight and she was waiting in the opulent living room for Tan.

She looked around at the empty house. It had been three years since she had become the unofficial lady of the household. While Kim Won still lived there, he had never gotten married to his former fiancée after all. Shortly after the other woman had been given control of her father's company, she had run off to get married to her non-chaebol boyfriend. Won had never gotten re-engaged or even looked at any other woman after Jeon Hyun Joo. So Cha Eun Sang had stepped up to the task, because Tan would have never let her work and she needed to do something – anything.

Slipping on her heels, Eun Sang dismissed the day staff early. They were going out for dinner tonight, to show the public a united front on the anniversary of the Chairman's death. It was always the four of them, the Chairwoman, Won, Tan and her. However, dinners were usually accompanied by a visit to her mother and Madame Han for some normalcy.

Unfortunately, Madame Han and her mother were once again travelling abroad. Her lips quirked up as she checked her lipstick in one of the mirrors near the doorway. The two were currently on their way to the Antarctic for a cruise. Even then, the two of them no longer lived in the Jeguk compound, instead living more modestly in Seoul together. Their friendship made her heart warm.

"Ma'am, the driver is out front," the night butler, Chang Min, prompted. He held out her coat for her and gave her a small smile.

"Thank you," she smiled graciously, "we won't be back until late. You may use the free time to do what you like."

Eun Sang would never get used to having people serve her in such a manner. No matter how much she tried to get the staff to relax around her, Tan insisted it was unacceptable and demanded they treat her with more respect. Nonetheless, she remained polite to them and tried hard to learn more about her staff.

Tan had promptly forgotten her life as a poor maid's daughter as soon as they had gotten married. He fully expected her to fully integrate into his world, but it had never happened. Cha Eun Sang could never forget who she was.

The driver held the door open as she exited the house and then in two strides out stripped her and opened the back of the car door for her. Eun Sang acknowledged him with a smile, "thank you, Joon."

As the car made it's way through the town, Eun Sang sighed. When had her life come to reflect the Madame's? She was just a trophy to be kept at home as Tan was off most of the time travelling for work.

Eun Sang cursed softly to herself, "aish, when did you get so pathetic? Waiting like a puppy for a man to come home to you…"

As her sleek black car pulled up behind a familiar azure blue car, she sighed. At least this dinner would not just be her, Tan and the Chairwoman. That would have truly been difficult.

To her surprise, Won got out of his car and waited for hers to pull up. Eun Sang knew immediately what had happened and felt disappointment settle in her stomach. Dinner with just Won and the Chairwoman? It probably wasn't as frosty in Antarctica.

As soon as he opened the door for her, she knew what was coming. "I'm sorry, Tan couldn't make it tonight. He insisted on taking the Taiwan assignment."

Kim Won's deep voice was emotionless, but his look softened when she nodded in understanding. "I suppose, it is just the two of us and the Chairwoman?"

It was beyond her why they continued this farce of having dinner with the Chairwoman. While the media still saw her as the matriarch of the household, Won and Tan had long ago stripped her of all her powers and influence.

Something changed in his posture, "I believe, sister-in-law, it is just the two of us."

She took his arm as they walked into the fancy restaurant, camera's flashing behind them. "Pardon?" After a few years of living together, the two of them had become better acquainted. In particular, she had reported to him while she worked with his Secretary to host Jeguk functions as lady of the household.

Won's face was still his usual, blank stare, but he became almost smug as he said, "she has decided not to show her face this year. I believe her numerous health complications are keeping her at home."

Eun Sang waited until they were inside to shoot him a wry look, "you should not look so smug about that."

"Perhaps, this is karma?" he murmured, smirking as much as his usual stoic look would allow him.

Now that it was the two of them, seated in the private dining area alone, she let down more of her guard. "Aish, one day that is going to catch up to you too," Eun Sang shot back, a smile threatening to quirk her mouth upwards.

He shrugged. Dinner came promptly and the chef had already been informed that they were coming. Thus, there were no complications with the menu. It had been the same for every meal – the deceased Chairman Kim's favourites.

The two remained silent until dessert.

"Thank you for assuming the responsibilities of the household," Won looked at her, over the rim of his wine glass.

Eun Sang smiled, "there's no need to thank me, it's not like I do much else."

He paused a beat as his brow furrowed, "have you seen your friends lately?"

She winced internally. Eun Sang had few surviving friendships from high school, particularly with Chan Young and Bo Na. Then there was her permanently on the rocks friendship with Choi Young Do. Young Do was too busy to meet up with her and Tan never approved of their friendship. Her college friends, too, had not received any approval from Tan.

"No, but I've been busy with the household," she smiled before taking a sip of her wine.

The conversation fell into silence as they worked on polishing off the bottle of wine.

When the two of them leave, the paparazzi still linger and so does the silence. Eung Sang waited on the sidewalk for her car while Won's sat out front already.

"Get in," Won has turned towards her before he climbed into the driver's seat.

Eun Sang shook her head before stepping off the sidewalk to walk around to the passenger's side. She settled in and he sped off towards the Jeguk estate.

When they arrived at the compound, they walked silently together until Eun Sang couldn't resist. "Next time, we might as well have dinner at home."

Won blinked at her as they reached the bottom of the butterfly staircase. His face slowly melted into a fondly exasperated look and he chuckled, "like before in the cellar?"

She held his gaze silently, a challenge. He shook his head and continued up to his wing. "Tan will be back in three days."

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Disclaimer: I own nothing!


	2. Part II

Temptations

Pt. II

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"This is good," Won finally said and Eun Sang let out the breath she was holding.

She had controlled all her urges to fidget with the hem of her dress and to wait patiently as he read her proposal for the Jeguk Group luncheon. Most of the details had been ironed out and from the vague directions she had gotten from Won, it seemed to fit his motif

Not to say that she had done all the work herself. There were many an afternoon that she called Secretary Lee to complain and ask for help because she had no idea what to do. Not to mention Tan was still like an overgrown child when it came to ideas for these things. His only suggestion was that it would be fun if it were held at a theme park.

"Thank you," she murmured.

He pressed the button on the intercom and spoke, "Secretary Lee?"

Two seconds later the man arrived and she turned to greet him. He bowed low to her. "Yes?"

"If Cha Eun Sang needs anything, you are at her disposal," Won commanded.

Her eyes rounded and she interjected hurriedly, "I'm sure Secretary Lee has tons of other things to do, I can manage fine!"

Secretary Lee held his breath in fear as the two locked wills for a moment. Even though Won obviously had the upper hand, Cha Eun Sang's fierce personality was not to be messed up with.

He looked at her over the top of her report and huffed. "Other events have an army of organizers."

That eased the tension in the room and Eun Sang nodded gratefully, "ah, thank you." She had been working with the current household staff in order to put together the report, but it was difficult. Most of the staff who had been around during the Chairman's time had been replaced and the Chairwoman's household was exclusively managed by her. They were largely inexperienced in throwing such luncheons. Having Secretary Lee would be a boon, as he would have access to a much larger pool of resources.

"We will discuss this later for some minor detail changes," Won said.

"Your appointments are all booked up for the next week," Secretary Lee interjected smoothly, "perhaps the following week?"

Eun Sang frowned, going to the office for these small issues was such a hassle, not to mention they lived in the same house. Quite frankly she would just prefer an e-mail then. She offered an alternative solution, "what about over dinner tonight?"

Won studied her face for a minute and asked bluntly, "are you asking me to dinner?"

She huffed a bit and tried not to laugh, "of course not. What would your brother say?"

He laughed before agreeing whole-heartedly, "I will see you in the cellar for dinner, then. I will call ahead."

When he started discussing other things with Secretary Lee, Eun Sang simply bowed and let herself out. Coming to Jeguk Group was usually for Won's convenience and a way for her to get out of the house. A few employees in the inner circle greeted her as she left the lobby.

Joon was waiting for her outside with the car.

"Let's stop by a café on the way home," she told him, flashing him a soft smile.

Joon knew exactly where she wanted to go. All of the household staff was aware of Eun Sang's rather limited schedules and activities. They respected her privacy and there was nothing Kim Tan was able to do to make them less loyal to her. Perhaps the only person they were more loyal to was Kim Won, but even that was dubious.

He dropped her off in front before parking the car on the side. He knew that Eun Sang enjoyed spending hours talking to the proprietress about all sorts of things. However, it was not his place to know who she was talking to or why. For his own job security, Eun Sang had insisted on not telling him, lest Tan have any reason to fire him. The best part of his day, though, would be when she returned to the car.

"Good afternoon, dear," the older woman brought out a selection of Eun Sang's favourites.

Eun Sang rose and gave the older woman a hug and greeted her fondly, "it's good to see you again. I hate to ask you for a favour, but…"

The older woman sat down once she saw the Jeguk envelope on the table. "It _is_ that time of the year again, isn't it?"

"Young Do would probably disapprove but I didn't know who else to turn to. Won has given me access to his Secretary, but everyone I know lacks experience." Eun Sang was apologetic but the older woman brushed off her concern.

"It is in the past, what I did while married to his father. I certainly have years of experience as a young girl anyways from my mother," she immediately put Eun Sang at ease. "Besides, if anything it was good training for learning how to run my own coffee shop."

"Thank you so much," Eun Sang beamed back at Kyung Ran.

Eun Sang returned to the Jeguk compound hours later, tired but optimistic about throwing this luncheon. In one hand was a small, white take out box and in the other a to go coffee cup. She kindly handed them over to Joon, who smiled and bowed low before opening the car door. "I got you three desserts. One for your daughter and wife as well, you said they preferred matcha flavoured desserts last time, yes?"

Joon was touched that his mistress would ever remember these things. Even if they did not, he would have never told her other wise. "Yes, they do, thank you. They will be so pleased that you would remember such things."

The drive back was quiet, but she could observe his happy posture. Her thoughts drifted back to her discussion with Kyung Ran. To fail would be to fail the Jeguk name and despite her untrained background she was not about to let down her new family. It was also about personal pride as well. She would show them that even without their training she could thrive.

She put down her purse and unpinned her hair. The portfolio of notes was left on her dresser table. She removed a lot of her make up and changed out of her more formal suit. Eun Sang preferred to dress more casually around the house. She entered the modest-sized walk in closet and distractedly chose a soft, baby pink fluffy cashmere sweater reminiscent of Kim Tan's during their high school years. Donning it, Eun Sang undid all her jewelry save the emerald pendent Won had given her out of the Jeguk family collection. She grabbed a pair of jeans and the transformation was complete. She felt more like herself now.

Tan always made her wear suits and dress up in the most expensive clothing, sort of like his mother had. Eun Sang preferred not to, but luckily only had to conform when he was home.

A maid interrupted her musings, "The Master is leaving the office now."

Without missing a beat, Eun Sang nodded, "the usual for the two of us served in the cellar, please?" The maid nodded and bowed despite Eun Sang being in the other room. She had an easy job tonight, a bunch of street vendor stall favourites and a liberal amount of soju.

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Didn't get to the exciting bit yet, but let me know what you all think :3


	3. Part III

**Temptations, Pt. III**

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"I think I know why you liked to eat here so often back then," Won sat comfortably across from her on the big table in the wine cellar.

The two sat on the bar stools at the tall table where Eun Sang used to do her homework in peace and quiet. She had been more than once been caught by Won back then studying at this table while he retrieved his mother's wine.

Eun Sang twirled her black bean noodles around her chopsticks, "It was peaceful. The only person who ever came here was you."

Won popped kimchi in his mouth, chewing thoughtfully before answering, "when Tan's mother became a known alcoholic, it became taboo."

It had been an accident, discovering his love of street vendor food. It reminded her of Young Do's convenience store habit. During a visit back to the mansion during the holidays while she was in college, she had picked up an assortment of foods she missed and had them in the cellar while replying to e-mails and dodging the rest of the family. Eun Sang had meticulously arranged all the food out on the table in front of her and had her tablet out when Won had appeared, looking for his favourite wine.

He had stared at the spread of food. Eun Sang had cautiously offered him the other pair of chopsticks, there had been no way that she was going to finish the whole meal. Won's stricken express as he ate kept her from prying. Since then, she had learned that street vendors were often the choice meeting spot between him and Hyun Joo.

"This is nice," Eun Sang smiled at him, her dimples showing and gesturing to the food.

"It is relaxing," he nodded sagely.

Won was an enigma to Eun Sang. He was always proper and appropriate, but like everyone had quirks and characteristics that at first seemed out of line with her perception of him. His stern, alpha-male personality was almost completely machine-like, but there was an inner fire that still remained and she respected him. She also respected him for not fleeing the responsibility that was _Jeguk_.

"How is work?"

Won frowned, "the same. We are having difficulties bringing Zeus on board for the latest project. There is also the new threat from China we are looking to neutralize by bringing them on board."

"And the board?" Eun Sang asked cautiously.

His expression darkened. "As usual."

"One of your father's old …_cadres_ recently sent a letter to Tan and I reminding us that it was our duty to produce heirs as you have no wife of your own yet," Eun Sang scowled.

Won raised his eyebrow and scoffed, "then they should stop sending him away on business trips so often."

Eun Sang bit her lip and kept her grievances to herself. Whatever weird, twisted sense of duty the brothers have to each other, they tended to forget she is the one who is left behind. When they are both away on business calls or working long hours she only has this big empty house. Eun Sang had no lost love for her sister either, so she couldn't even begin to understand those two.

She popped another sweet potato in her mouth.

"Tan does his job well, the board is impressed with him," Won acknowledged gravely.

"I would hope so, he spends so many hours at the office," Eun Sang responded, a slight smirk on her face.

When all the food is gone except some errant kimbap rolls, which Eun Sang is planning to greedily hoard for her lunch tomorrow, the two open up her portfolio and she sets about going over some of the modifications she and Kyung Ran discussed.

"The park has a conservatory that is empty at this time of year, all the plants are moved out into the gardens, and the golf course is not far away. Casual, but with restrained extravagance in order to appeal to the other families and our more fiscal-minded board members," Eun Sang laid out some of the sketches.

"And the menu?" Won thumbed through the pages.

"To be decided upon your opinion," Eun Sang said, "there are three options: foreign with emphasis on French, entirely Korean, or a fusion of foreign and Korean. I was unsure of what the message we were attempting to send. Similarly, all of the flowers present will have meaning which will most likely not have any meaning to anyone other than how expensive they are to import at this time of year. Not to mention the sheer variety and volume of the order."

"Perceptive," Won nodded approvingly.

Eun Sang topped up their soju glasses and a servant came down to take away the empty dishes.

"Let's do French," he said, "Samsung did traditional Korean last time."

"Of course," Eun Sang nodded and then muttered, "the solution was so simple."

Won chuckled and downed the rest of the soju. A somber silence filled the room and Eun Sang felt the mood plummet. She, too, had the rest of her soju and pushed the small cup away from her.

"Do you think we would have been happy if we had made different decisions?"

Eun Sang clenched her jaw. She never let herself ponder that question for too long, or even at all. She made her choices and she would sleep in the bed she made. It would cause a scandal if she was to leave now from Jeguk and turn her back on her choices – even if Tan went down without a fight.

"There is no point in wondering about it now," she offered tentatively, "what really matters is how we want to live our futures."

It was one of those moments when she realized just how trapped they both felt by decisions they had once believed in. Won had believed in his birthright as heir to Jeguk and had fought for it, giving up everything in the process. Eun Sang had believed in Tan and had so determined that by the time the hardship had disappeared, they had forgot what they had fought for.

All she got in return for her wise words was a brittle, wan smile.

"Perhaps it is time to turn in?" she smiled softly. Eun Sang was not feeling emotionally up for the challenge that their combined somber moods could bring. She had a project to cling to, something she could count on – and Tan was coming home soon.

Won nodded and they both slid off their respective seats. He waited for her to ascend the stairs first before following behind her quietly.

Her foot caught on one of the steps. She could blame it on the tiredness, the alcohol, _anything_, but it couldn't erase how it felt when Won caught her descent in strong arms.

He righted her and when she regained her balance she smiled, "ah, thank you for not letting me humiliate myself." Her smile was wry but there was sincerity in her eyes.

Won simply raised an eyebrow and shook his head, hiding the quirk of his lips.

Later, Eun Sang would try not to dwell on how it felt to have his hand securely on her back as he guided her up the stairs, across the courtyard and into the main house.

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Reviews, please! :)


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